Saturday 4 January 2014

Snow Queen and Snowflake Meringues
Demel Shop Windows at Christmastime


The Snow Queen
Life-sized sculpture made of sugar paste


Meringue Snow Flakes
falling in one of Demel's
Christmas shop windows

D e m e l
K. & K. Hofzuckerbäckerei

Royal and Imperial Confectioners
Kohlmarkt 14
Photographed December 2013
© by Merisi

31 comments:

  1. Das Foto ist dir toll gelungen! Seit meine Tochter bei Demel arbeitet, komme ich ja ab und zu in diese Gegend und versuche auch ab und zu mal eine der genialen Dekorationen zu fotografieren - aber so perfekt wie dir hab ich das noch nie geschafft!
    ♛ ♥ ♬♛ ♥ ♬♛ ♥ ♬♛ ♥ ♬♛ ♥ ♬♛ ♥ ♬
    Alles Liebe, Traude

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    1. Hallo! Jetzt wo deine Tochter dort arbeitet kann ich mich mit der Wiener Grammatik nicht zurückhalten - bitte um Nachsicht, wenn ich hier belehre und sage "beim Demel", nicht "bei Demel". Es ist der Demel.

      Eingefleischten Wienern stellte rund um den Demel die Nackenhare auf, wenn Blogger aus Wien z.B. in das Demel gehen ... da gäbe es noch viele weitere Wiener Grammatiken, den D-Wagen, die Burg, das Frauenhuber und den Bräunerhof ... ;-)

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    2. Thank you, Rostrose!
      Paula, there's a reason why I called my blog "Vienna for Beginners". I am still a beginner and delighted every time I learn something about this wonderful place that I call "home" now. Have you read Dirk Sterman's 6 Österreicher unter den ersten 5? Some of the instances he describes are quite familiar to my children and me. There really is a lot to learn about Vienna and the natives. It is very easy to make a proper charlie out of oneself without even be aware of having done it, again. ;-)

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    3. "I live in Vienna now" - that is my standard phrase when people ask me where I am from. Saying anything else would make my answer way too complicated. There are some corners and people and a few fleeting moments here and there that make me feel "at home" - on the other hand, how important is it, to "belong" to a place? We are all transients, in this life, aren't we?

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  2. A beautiful snow queen and wonderful, snowy captures for the day, Merisi!! Hope you have a lovely first weekend for the year!! Enjoy!

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    1. Thank you, Sylvia,
      and may your days be filled with joy!

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  3. Ahhh Merisi, these two pictures could only have been taken in Vienna. Or so think I!

    Very beautiful, very elegant, and with just that perfect accent of humor.

    You are getting us off to a very fine New Year. xo

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  4. Great combination, both shots are wonderful!

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    1. Thank you, JM!
      I could not come up with a third picture, so up in a pair these images went. ;-)

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  5. I enjoyed Demel's Christmas window very much! Very elegant.

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    1. I always do. They put a smile on my face.

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  6. I LOVE the photo of the meringues! And it's funny to see something that I've photographed myself (in this case the Snow Queen) again through your lens.

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    1. Thank you, Vreni!
      The Demel shop windows have attracted me since I first moved here,
      It's hard to avoid capturing the same subject in this city, and escpecially of iconic places. The same subjects may catch our eye, but I assure you, if and when it happens, it's sheer serendipity, not copycatting.
      To a great NewYear and many beautiful subjects for our lenses,
      Merisi

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  7. Beautiful images. The snow queen is nicely decorated, and I love those sweets used as decoration!

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

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    1. Sometimes the simple things, like pure white meringue "flakes", are the most beautiful.

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  8. I could not help but think this Snow Queen would not melt, if put on the stove, her outfit would probably caramelize. The little boy in Hans Christian Andersen's "Snow Queen" would stare at it in surprise. ;-)
    I wished the Demel pastry fairies had thought of having her stand on a mirror, like the real Snow Queen: "The walls of the palace were of driving snow, and the windows and doors of cutting winds. There were more than a hundred halls there, according as the snow was driven by the winds. The largest was many miles in extent; all were lighted up by the powerful Aurora Borealis, and all were so large, so empty, so icy cold, and so resplendent! Mirth never reigned there; there was never even a little bear-ball, with the storm for music, while the polar bears went on their hindlegs and showed off their steps. Never a little tea-party of white young lady foxes; vast, cold, and empty were the halls of the Snow Queen. The northern-lights shone with such precision that one could tell exactly when they were at their highest or lowest degree of brightness. In the middle of the empty, endless hall of snow, was a frozen lake; it was cracked in a thousand pieces, but each piece was so like the other, that it seemed the work of a cunning artificer. In the middle of this lake sat the Snow Queen when she was at home; and then she said she was sitting in the Mirror of Understanding, and that this was the only one and the best thing in the world."

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  9. Love the Snow Queen and she's edible?!!

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    1. Yes, Carol, she's made of sugar and edible!

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  10. I heart the 2nd one.

    I confess I have someone not so nice in my life that I refer to as the Ice Queen.

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  11. Meringue snowflakes and an edible snow queen...how awesome is that???

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  12. Wow. Just love this shot of the snow flakes. So artistic. Congrats.

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    1. Thank you! :-)
      I shot it from the inside looking out.

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  13. Only in Vienna ... such beauty and elegance!

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  14. last nite we watched Frozen which is loosely based on the HCA snow queen story .. that gown is almost identical to the one the character in the movie wore!

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  15. MAGNIFIQUE !!!
    Marie-Noëlle

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  16. Lovely pics!

    Sugar paste? Sounds tasty...

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